Beginners/ Kids cantering on lunge line

[sspry]

An interesting "debate" of sorts has come up between a friend and I. Do the Cothers feel it is easier or harder for a child to learn to canter on the lunge line? I know we need to take all things in consideration ie, pony, footing, length of stride etc but in general. I feel it is easier for the child to start by cantering down the long side a few strides. Please share your opinions on teaching kids to canter.

[M. O'Connor]

This is always a tricky time for both student and teacher.

It really depends on the situation, but by the time they are ready to try cantering I want them to have a VERY secure two point, independent steering and pace control at both walk and trot, and they will have the ability to trot over cavaletti in two point and posting. I then will consider adding a crossrail to the cavaletti, and at that point it's not startling for either horse or rider to find themselves landing at a canter, with the first task at hand being to pull up on a line. It adds a lot of control and predictability to a situation that could get out of hand if the transition to the faster gait doesn't go as planned, eliminates the problem of a pony that just 'trots faster' instead of cantering, and gives the rider a bit of a feel of the gait, but only for a short time, and then gives an opportunity for discussion, before trying it again.

OTOH, my youngest daughter learned to walk, trot, and canter on the longe on a very smooth-gaited pony, all before she was five, and I would never have let her do that on her own off the longe.

So it really is case by case, depending on the rider, the pony, and the setup you are working with.

[jump_lv]

I think a lot of it depends on the mount. We have one small pony that hates cantering on the lunge line and the way he wheels around would be difficult for a small child to handle. But off the lunge line he canters like a dream so kids have learned to canter on him off the lunge line. On the other hand, we have a pony with the smoothest canter that is a joy for the kids so for the ones that "fit" that pony (he is very particular! haha) they often start on the lunge. It also depends on the rider... as the previous poster said her five year old was fully started on the lunge. But maybe a grown adult would be more capable of starting off the lunge. I like the previous poster's ideas of introducing cavaletti and a crossrail as a natural progression to the canter; the element of predictability there is what I would think would be easier.. as they stated you often have that "power-trot" in to the canter that can be disconcerting.

I'm definitely interested to see what others have to say about this

[plumbrook]

I have done both but have had better results teaching canter up the long side and back to trot at the corner. Before teaching canter I like for the child to be able to trot in two point with one hand out to the side. When they can do this with confidence that tells me they are ready. My ponies know the drill and the gate comes in handy to motivate them going towards it and then slow to a trot as they pass it Also I have noticed on the lunge riders have more of a tendency to lean and look down.

[shawneeAcres]

Teaching cantering is done this way for me. Most of the times the kid experiences some canter steps when jumping cross rails from the trot, which is good. I have a couple of older horses/ponies that canter WELL on lungeline, steady "lopey" type canters. I usually put them in the roundpen and canter a couple times on the lungeline. Then I will "turn them loose" in the roundpen, with me in the center with a lungewhip, since really the kids often don't have enough leg to get much of a canter out of the ponies. At this point they are also using a neck strap to balance so I don't want them to also have to carry a stick. Once they can canter in roundpen and look pretty solid, we graduate to the big arena. Still have a neckstrap and I just start with cantering down the long side. Then we add a short side, etc until they can canter around entire arena (make take 3 or 4 lessons depending on the kid). THis method has worked very well for me. Sometimes I will have one that I skip the lungeline part if I feel they can manage it.

[x]

I start riders cantering down a long side--I find that it is easier for them to initially feel it on a straight line than on a curve; in fact, I will have them just do a straight line for a bit until they are comfortable enough to go around the end of the arena, because that bit of a curve is a little harder.

[leilatigress]

DD was started on the lounge line on the smoothest horse I've ever say that wasn't gaited. She was ready for it but it's not her favorite gate so she does mostly w/t. Now on Supermodel she doesn't stand a chance of staying on that mare's canter so it's all walk trot. DD can kick till the cows come home, ask perfectly every time and Supermodel just trots along perfect. Supermodel will allow the canter when her and trainer agree DD is ready for it. We too have a trotting pony that has a fantastic canter but only off the lounge so some learn off the line but most on.

[Mayaty02]

Well we've done both. My daughter initially cantered a few steps after a cross rail, and then the long side...she had trouble getting the pony to canter though so we ended up doing it on the lunge line too. I have to say neither really worked, what worked was getting her on a a steady edy large pony (as opposed to the small she was riding) and then just letting her canter the long sides. Within days she was cantereing round and round . To me, the difference is in the stride of the pony, and how easy they are to canter and control.

[fordtraktor]

When I taught /I used to start my kids on the longe because my horse that I started them cantering on was an old western horse that was great on the longe. I liked having them on the longe because they felt safe and could focus on their position instead of worrying about what the horse was doing. Once they got used to the feel I started transitioning them off the longe and more toward telling him to canter and steering. It usually only took a couple of times to get comfortable but that was a valuable introduction.

All my kids were confirmed at the walk, trot, and canter before they were jumping. They did cavalletti right off the bat but not crossrails. I would not introduce canter from landing off a jump, to me that is putting the cart before the horse. My personal opinion, perhaps also shaped by the fact that my beginner horse was a saint for W-T-C but not sound for jumping.

[NCRider]

In a perfect world, you'd have an appropriate sized good lunge horse and in that case, I think it is always better to start on the lunge because then you can isolate the feeling of the seat without having the person worried about pace and direction control. They can hold the saddle to start. They can work on cantering without hands and without stirrups in a safe zone before they venture out on their own. You also don't have to worry about the running into the canter problem which can lead to a lot of fear (which leads to position problems and leaning forward which is not what you want when asking for the canter).

I do think it's helpful to know how to sit the canter before trying to learn how to properly ask for the canter because you can't get a good canter depart if you're nervous about what's coming.

The problem is a lot of people don't have appropriate lunge horses or the appropriate skill to teach a rider on the lunge. It doesn't seem to be something that is valued as much here in the states as it is in Europe.

As an aside, I learned to canter out hacking witth a group of horses. We started cantering when everyone else did and stopped when everyone else stopped. Probably not the safest method but it did remove pace and direction from my list of responsibilities.

[sspry]

Thanks for the replies. Today the girl in question ( who is a bit afraid to canter off the lunge) actually cantered several strides on a straight line after a little cross rail. She said that was easy and had a big smile.

[netg]

Thanks for the replies. Today the girl in question ( who is a bit afraid to canter off the lunge) actually cantered several strides on a straight line after a little cross rail. She said that was easy and had a big smile.

That's great!


My mom is sort of a beginner. She hadn't ridden in 15 years due to physical (hip) problems, and as a side effect of a bad fall last year can now ride without pain for the first time in 20 years. She had a green 2 year old with nasty spook and buck who she rode, so wasn't a beginner then, but as a 60-something with so many years out of the saddle, she is starting over as far as muscle control.

We ended up having a perfect horse for her fall in our laps, but this mare hadn't been ridden in about a year and was out of shape, and isn't naturally gifted in her canter work. So I put her on my horse, who while called a hot and crazy OTTB has a very strong babysitter streak and a fabulous canter. He holds himself up nicely on the buckle, so we put a western saddle and longe line on him. I schooled him on walk/canter transitions on the buckle before she got on him to make sure that was at the front of his mind, then we had her canter from the walk. He's obviously not a school pony who has a running trot into the canter, and she obviously used to canter and could ask - so the longe line so she knew my trainer was steering him in case she got too off balance to keep him circling with her seat, plus the knowledge she could let go and grab the horn if needed, all helped her feel secure for her first canter.

She was going to canter her horse the next week and got sick, and has now been building back her strength, so hasn't really picked up the canter intentionally. She did ride a spook out into a canter, though, and absolutely loved it. Funny, because then she kept hoping her horse would spook again so she could canter more!

I think whether kid or adult, once they're strong enough the key is making sure they are mentally ready - because then it becomes something they want to do, rather than something they "have" to do. The trot crossrails into canter sounds like a great way for some kids, and I'm going to remember that one!